Lanterns episode 3 took a trip down memory lane, spotlighting John Stewart’s journey as a potential Green Lantern candidate. We learn that Hal Jordan played, if not deliberately, but a significant role in uprooting John’s childhood and present circumstances. He’s not the best of mentors, and he’s certainly not someone who welcomes change.
However, with a threat at large and aliens talking about blowing themselves up, Hal has no other option but to work together with John to locate the Manhunter. With little to no information about their enemy, Hal decides to fly away and ask the only person he knows will have the answer—his former mentor, Sinestro.
He’s a prisoner on a planet in the middle of nowhere, but Sinestro is well-aware of the threats Hal is facing. He seems more interested in John Stewart than in a potential Manhunter surviving among humans. Though Hal makes his annoyance clear, Sinestro keeps pushing him to reveal details about John’s recruitment as a lantern.
Obviously, Sinestro knows Hal and how he operates, so it doesn’t take him much time to get under his skin and make him reveal his true thoughts. Although Hal initially insists John is just a backup the Guardians found in the Marines, he later unwillingly admits he knows John is his replacement.
Surprisingly, Sinestro announces that Hal would need to kill John at some point, but the latter believes he’s not evil enough to do so. The two go back and forth on the topic until Hal decides to end the conversation, and it's then that Sinestro reveals key details about the Manhunters.
Manhunters are believed to be extinct, but if one still exists, it poses a threat to Earth. Sinestro tells Hal he knows unique aspects of their physiology that can't change, even when they take new forms. However, Sinestro isn’t remotely interested in Hal’s problems; on the contrary, he spends most of the conversation manipulating Hal into deceiving John.
Sinestro believes that Guardians have an agenda and that Hal should hand over the Manhunter to them while disgracing John in the process. He basically tells Hal to make John believe that he was embracing him as his backup and stab him in the back when he’s at his most vulnerable.
Of course, Hal would not do that because he understands Sinestro did the same to him, which is what he expects Hal to do with John. Though Sinestro insists that he never fooled Hal, he simply chose not to see his ambition, which was always a threat to those around him.
Hal and John raid the Manhunter’s compound
Back on Earth, John decides to scout Macon’s ranch from atop a water tanker when he sees a helicopter arrive. During the scouting, Hal returns, stating that he was out getting laid in space as the reason for his absence. Luckily, John had to offer a bit more progress on the matter, as he believes there’s a hidden structure on the compound that’s apparently not visible from any angle but is in the line of sight of the four guard towers on the property.
John explains that Macon probably has a weenie on his compound, which is an architectural term that Walt Disney used for hidden structures. John believes that Macon built the compound around this obscure structure, and that’s where the chopper he saw was landing. The only problem is, how do they raid the compound without raising alarms?
Hal suggests that they loop in Sheriff Kane and tell her about the Manhunter and the aliens. Although as outrageous as it sounds, Kane takes all the information thrown at her like a champ and shows genuine concern for her town’s safety. However, she’s flabbergasted by the fact that they don’t have worthwhile leads, and since anyone can be a Manhunter, how can they be so sure that she’s not one?
Hal assures her that he did some digging around her past, and she checks out, but she should share any information about the benefactor. Kane insists that she hasn’t seen the person, but if they think they have a shot at stopping the Manhunter, they should take it.
John Stewart finds himself in a dilemma
Hal and John decide to hit the compound at night, and as the latter enters his motel room, he finds one of the Guardians waiting for him. The Guardian informs John that he failed to make contact, and they can’t understand why he’s still in Nebraska. John doesn’t tell her about the Manhunter and makes excuses about Hal being nearby.
That concern for Hal leads the Guardian to reveal his whereabouts in space and that he went to see Sinestro, breaking his oath in the process. She tells John that the Guardians think he’s ready to replace Hal Jordan, and all he needs to do is recite the oath the next time Hal gives him the ring.
John is taken by surprise, saying that he didn’t know he was going to be the one to do the deed. The Guardian doesn’t take the accusation lightly and enlightens John about the promises his mother made about how he was different from his father. She also informs John of Hal’s opinion about him, stating that the latter thinks he’s boring and is not worthy of carrying the massive power that comes with the ring.
The statement agitates John, and he replies that Hal is old and tired and knows John is better than him. He basically declares his intentions, claiming that he was always worthy of the ring and he will get it no matter the cost. The Guardian seems convinced and advises John to get the ring before disappearing.
John later shows Hal a detailed drawing of a digger they can use to tunnel in from underground, which will make them less exposed to the sharpshooters. Hal is impressed, and he gives John the ring to conjure the digger since it was his idea.
Ironically, Hal giving John the ring in this instance was the best shot he had the entire episode to recite the oath and be the next Green Lantern, but John doesn’t play dirty. Instead, he manifests the digger impeccably, and the two make their way to the compound.
As they go underground, John makes small talk and learns that Hal lost both his parents, which helped solidify him as a fearless hero. They arrive at the spot and enter the compound undetected. Unfortunately, there’s no one there, and it looks more like a weapons factory than a meeting place. It looked like Macon was making high-tech weapons, and just as they decide to look deeper, Hal steps on an alarm.
Even though John conjures a weight to replace the alarm, it still goes off, and cavalry comes in. Macon’s militia easily overpowers the duo by bombing them with black smoke, leaving John unable to concentrate and conjure something useful.
The two are later presented to Will Macon, who mocks them by making John draw his naked body. Doing so, he not only insults their rookie attempt but also removes their doubts about being an alien. Their conversation is awkward, and Will threatens the duo because his boss isn't happy about them snooping around.
Hal insists that he reveals who his benefactor is since he’s dangerous, but Macon rebukes his claims, stating that the Manhunter’s arrival changed everything. Wherever he goes, prosperity follows, children thrive, and crops grow. He even reveals that his boss saved him from a death sentence as he was suffering from cancer.
He asks Zoe to confirm his story since she was his nurse and knows what he went through. However, when Hal isn’t convinced, Macon threatens to kill him if he continues to trespass and disturb their town’s peace. Hal calls his bluff, saying that he can’t harm them because killing a Lantern would draw too much attention.
However, Macon casually states that killing John wouldn’t come with consequences, and the room fills with tension. Fortunately, Kane arrives just in time to save the two, and they leave immediately. Kane is beyond pissed at Hal and John for blowing their only shot, and now her father-in-law must think she’s in it with them.
Kane drops the boys off at the motel, gives John a gun, and tells them she broke into Billy’s file and is close to finding out about the benefactor. Until then, the two must look out for themselves because Macon will not sit quite now that they know about the Manhunter.
John pays the price of his secrets
Hal and John hole up in the hotel, but an unexpected visitor arrives. Zoe Macon secretly visits John, and the two end up sleeping together. Later, they talk about their situation, and Zoe basically tells John this will be their last meeting because they will either leave town or get killed.
John apologizes, maybe because he can’t do what Zoe is asking, and he can’t leave because he feels everyone is lying to him. Although he thinks he’s lying too, he just wants to unmask whatever anyone is hiding, including Zoe. She admits that she’s lying, but if she tells the truth, everything will change.
She tells John that she isn’t hiding anything because of her husband; instead, she wants to save John’s life. She doesn’t owe Will Macon anything; instead, he owes her for saving his life. Zoe asks one final time if John will leave the town, but he refuses.
Zoe and John later say goodbye, but as she’s driving away in her truck, a laser beam shoots down from the sky and blasts her car in front of John. Hal rushes out and asks John to point out where the laser came from. He then zooms up into space and comes back with a satellite that killed Zoe.
Kane later arrives at the motel and sees a giant green protective barrier over the entire place. She, Hal, and John try to connect the dots as to who has enough tech and money to build a satellite like that. To nobody’s surprise, Kane narrows it down to three companies, all of whom have Will Macon signed NDAs.
They run the satellite's number and find that it is registered to Atlas, Inc., one of Macon’s partner companies. It turns out that Atlas is owned by a man named Hector Hammond, who runs high-tech slaughterhouses across the country, one of which is located 95 miles from Rushville.
However, John points out that this is a trap because it all seems too easy. They wanted them to find the satellite, knowing that it would lead to one of the slaughterhouses. The Manhunter had the satellites all along and could have killed them the moment they arrived. However, it hasn’t happened, which means that it wants to lure them in for whatever reason.
Despite the apparent risk, Hal and John drive down to the slaughterhouse to confront the Manhunter. Along the way, Hal tries to console John about Zoe’s death and hits him with the reality of being a superhero. He’s impressed that John hasn’t shown emotions, and it's good that way because the job entails putting the people you love in danger, so the less people you care about, the better it is.
They arrive at the facility and find nothing alarming except for a bunch of workers who keep ignoring them as if they are invisible. Weirded out, Hal and John scout the area and find that the slaughterhouse is using the same laser tech to slaughter cows as the one that beamed down on Zoe.
As they make their way to an office, they find Mr. Hammond, who claims to be the Manhunter. He tells John the coordinates of his parents’ house, threatening to laser them in three minutes if he didn’t call the aliens and tell them that he found the Manhunter.
Hal immediately assumes that he wants to lure the aliens so he can kill them, but Hammond keeps talking to John and offers him a choice. When Hal intervenes, Hammond plays a voice recording of John talking to the Guardian, calling Hal old and tired and saying the ring will belong to him.
Hal definitely seems annoyed over John’s comments, but he goes on to call Hammond’s bluff. He asks him what color Abin Sur was, and when he couldn’t answer, Hal claims that he’s just a decoy covering for the real Manhunter. He threatens to rip the man’s heart out, saying that the only flaw in the Manhunter’s replicating ability is the heart. It can’t perfectly copy this particular anatomy of carbon-based life forms, and that’s why, when the Manhunter dies, his heart crystallizes.
Hal pushes his agenda further, saying he doesn’t care that the man blew up John’s parents. John immediately panics, and in the heat of the moment, Hammond confesses that he’s just a man who was given amazing technology by the Manhunter and offered him the chance to use it to help his family and community. When John insists on telling who the Manhunter is, Hammond says it is Will Macon.
On their way back from the facility, John makes it clear to Hal that he wasn’t going to steal the ring despite having the best chance to say the oath. Hal believes him and acts strangely nonchalant about it. He admits that John can be better than him since he didn’t do much to earn it.
As things get less awkward between them, John tells Hal that the Guardian said he broke a vow, and Hal confesses. He tells John he went to see Sinestro, who explained how Manhunters attack society’s weak spots and manipulate them into finding the fastest path to power. If they identify a threat, they eliminate it immediately, making them extremely dangerous.
Hal then asks John to call the aliens and tell them to meet at a café outside Rushville, since they found the Manhunter. John makes the call, but there’s something that’s bugging Hal, and he lets it out. He says he thought that John was made of stone; that’s why he wasn’t upset when Zoe was killed. However, when he saw how panicked he reacted over his parents’ safety, it all hit him.
John wasn’t upset because he’s immune to emotions, but because he knew Zoe wasn’t dead, and the only way she could have made it out alive was because she was the Manhunter. Hal accuses John of hiding such a crucial fact, but the latter insists that he only had a hunch and wasn’t sure if Zoe was the Manhunter. He tells Hal he’s sorry and tries to prove his loyalty by stating that he didn’t tell the Guardians about anything. Unfortunately, Hal isn’t convinced, and he does what he did to him during training: he steps on the gas, goes out the door and lets the car crash with John still inside.
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